- Robert Yates was born on March 17th 1738
- Robert was born in Schenectady New York
- he was the oldest of twelve children
- Robert was the son of merchants Joseph Yates and Maria Dunbar
- Robert decided to pursue a career in law
- after praticing clerking with William Livingstonin New York City, 1760 he was licensed to practice on his own
- He married Jannetje Van Ness in Albany New York
- the couple had six children
- Yates practiced making land maps in the 1760s
- in 1770 he drew the first civilian map of Albany
- in 1771 Yates was elected to the Common Councils as an alderman for the second ward
- Yates served in a number of comitees,provided legal advice
- also served as a secratary in the board of indian comissioners
- provided the first published version of the laws and ordinances of the city of Albany in 1773
- he was prominent in the local resistance of the stamp act
- October 1777 Yates was appionted to the New York State Supreme Court
- 1787 Yates was appionted with John Lansing Jr. and Alexander Hamiltonto represent New York at the Philadelphia convention to revise the Articles of Confederation
- Yates sent a letter to Governer Clinton urging opposition to the new constitution
- in 1788 Yates was elected an antifederalist towards ratifying the constitution
- in 1789 he ran for Governer against George Clinton and lost
- September 1790 Yates was elected chief justic of the New York State Supreme Court
- Robert Yates died in Albany, New York on September 9th, 1801 at age 63